UK garage is having one of those years where the shuffle is everywhere again. Festival bills, club nights, and late-night playlists keep circling back to swung drums, low-end bounce, and vocals with actual attitude. That is the lane New Zealand producer and DJ SorchaLula steps into on her second single, Love For My Hater featuring Samuel.
The track sits in breaks and UK bass territory rather than glossy two-step nostalgia. You get a minimal garage pulse, intricate percussion, and an energetic bassline that feels built for a soundsystem, not a background playlist. Field recordings sit over the groove so the production has air and grit at the same time. It is fiercer than her debut single, which leaned more into deep, organic house, but the fingerprint is the same: detailed drums, physical low end, and a sense that the track knows what a dancefloor actually needs.
Samuel’s vocal is the hook that makes it land. The Pōneke vocalist brings a soulful, gritty delivery rooted in gospel, with enough attitude that the title does not feel like a slogan. The lyrics look at sending love to the haters around you and the ones you carry yourself. Defiant and self-reflective at once, which is a harder mix than it sounds. This is their first official release together after meeting on the festival circuit and connecting through music, dance, and queer identity. They have already written and performed together, including at CubaDupa, and that lived-in chemistry is audible.
SorchaLula is a Wellington-based producer and DJ now signed to Loop Electronic, the electronic arm of Loop Recordings. Her debut singles and EP are rolling out across August to November 2026. She has been part of Aotearoa’s bass community for years, with sets at Northern Bass, Shipwrecked Festival, Twisted Frequency, Aum Festival NYE, CubaDupa, Taniwha’s Den and more. The short version of her sound: slinky one minute, filthy the next, always body-first. Every set leans on original material, and many of those tracks already melt into Samuel’s vocals.
That local circuit matters here. UK garage’s 2026 wave is often framed as a London-to-festival story, but the form travels well when producers treat it as a living groove instead of a costume. Breaks, UK bass, and garage have been part of New Zealand dance floors for a long time. Love For My Hater does not try to impersonate a 1999 pirate tape. It keeps the swing and the bass weight, then lets Samuel talk back at the room.
If you like your garage with more bite than sparkle, this is an easy one to sit with. The percussion is busy without getting messy. The bass moves. The vocal has character. And the concept is simple enough to shout and specific enough to mean something after the drop fades.
What do you think of this artist’s sound? Let me know in the comments.
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